We flagged this earlier in the year when The Sentry was “temporarily” moved off Maui. Now it’s official: after 25+ years, the PGA Tour is done at Kapalua.
This was a ~$48M direct economic driver for Maui, and now the Sony Open in Kahala could be downgraded to a Champions event. Fewer top players, less attention. We once had 13 televised events. Now we’re down to three, and maybe soon zero.
What we don’t talk about enough is the exposure. These tournaments deliver hours of global broadcast, the kind of marketing Hawaiʻi would pay millions for. That’s disappearing too.
From what we’re hearing, the state wasn’t really part of the conversation. We don’t know if Hawaiʻi was asked to sweeten the pot, but even if it was, it’s hard to imagine us competing on cost.
Moving crews, equipment, and production to Hawaiʻi isn’t cheap; this feels like a spreadsheet decision.
The course was the excuse. The margins made the decision.
Hard to stay on the global stage when the stage starts moving somewhere else.
